History

In 1996 the struggling Minnesota Moose moved north from St. Paul, Minnesota, to fill the vacated Winnipeg Arena, becoming the Manitoba Moose. At the time, they were a member of the IHL, and enjoyed moderate regular season and playoff success under head coach and former Winnipeg Jets player Randy Carlyle.

When the IHL folded, the Manitoba Moose joined the AHL and became the official farm team of the Vancouver Canucks. Upon joining the AHL, former Canuck player Stan Smyl became the Moose coach. However, he was later replaced by Randy Carlyle. Carlyle soon acquired a job with the Anaheim Ducks, and Alain Vigneault was hired for one season, before himself being called up to the Vancouver Canucks. Recently, Scott Arniel, himself a former Winnipeg Jet and Manitoba Moose, was hired as head coach.

In November 2004, the Manitoba Moose unveiled their new logo, and officially opened the new downtown arena in Winnipeg known as the MTS Centre.

In the spring of 2009, the Moose played in their first ever Calder Cup Finals against the Hershey Bears. They lost the best of seven series 4-2.

This market was previously served by:

Winnipeg Jets of the WHA (1972–1979) and the NHL (1979–1996).

Logos and patches

Team records

Single season

Goals:
45 Scott Thomas (1998–99)

Assists:
81 Stephane Morin (1994–95)

Points:
114 Stephane Morin (1994–95)

Penalty minutes:
285 Wade Brookbank (2004–05)

Wins:
28 Cory Schneider (2008-09)

GAA:
2.04 Cory Schneider (2008-09)

SV%:
.928 Cory Schneider (2008-09)

Career

Career goals:
102 Jimmy Roy

Career assists:
193 Brett Hauer

Career points:
251 Brett Hauer

Career penalty minutes:
1103 Jimmy Roy

Career goaltending wins:
69 Alex Auld

Career shutouts:
10 Alex Auld

Career games:
603 Jimmy Roy

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed AHL regular season.

Team coaches

Stan Smyl, 2001–04 (returned to Canucks as director of player development)

Randy Carlyle, 2004-05 (became Anaheim Ducks head coach)

Alain Vigneault, 2005-06 (became Vancouver Canucks head coach)

Scott Arniel, 2006-present

Season-by-season results

Minnesota Moose 1994–1996 (International Hockey League)

Manitoba Moose 1996–2001 (International Hockey League)

Manitoba Moose 2001–present

Regular season

Season

Games

Won

Lost

Tied

OTL

SOL

Points

Goalsfor

Goalsagainst

Standing

1994–95

81

34

35

—

12

—

80

271

336

4th, Central

1995–96

82

30

45

—

7

—

67

254

322

5th, Midwest

1996–97

82

32

40

—

10

—

74

262

300

5th, Midwest

1997–98

82

39

36

—

7

—

85

269

254

4th, Northwest

1998–99

82

47

21

—

14

—

108

269

236

2nd, Midwest

1999–00

82

37

31

—

14

—

88

227

237

5th, West

2000–01

82

39

31

—

12

—

90

222

230

3rd, West

2001–02

80

39

33

4

4

—

86

270

260

4th, Canadian

2002–03

80

37

33

8

2

—

84

229

228

2nd, Canadian

2003–04

80

32

35

11

2

—

77

214

232

6th, North

2004–05

80

44

26

—

7

3

98

243

210

3rd, North

2005–06

80

44

24

—

7

5

100

243

217

3rd, North

2006–07

80

45

23

—

7

5

102

232

201

1st, North

2007–08

80

46

27

—

3

4

99

236

197

3rd, North

2008–09

80

50

23

—

1

6

107

230

177

1st, League

Playoffs

Season

Prelim

1st round

2nd round

3rd round

Finals

1994–95

—

L, 0–3, Denver

—

—

—

1995–96

Out of playoffs.

1996–97

Out of playoffs.

1997–98

—

L, 0–3, Chicago

—

—

—

1998–99

W, 2–0, Milwaukee

L, 0–3, Chicago

—

—

—

1999–00

L, 0–2, Long Beach

—

—

—

—

2000–01

—

W, 4–3, Houston

L, 2–4, Chicago

—

—

2001–02

W, 2–1, Worcester

L, 1–3, Bridgeport

—

—

—

2002–03

W, 2–1, Portland

W, 3–1, Providence

L, 3–4, Hamilton

—

—

2003–04

Out of playoffs.

2004–05

—

W, 4–1, St. John's

W, 4–1, Rochester

L, 0–4, Chicago

—

2005–06

—

W, 4–2, Syracuse

L, 3–4, Grand Rapids

—

—

2006–07

—

W, 4–3, Grand Rapids

L, 2–4, Hamilton

—

—

2007–08

—

L, 2–4, Syracuse

—

—

—

2008–09

—

W, 4-2, Toronto

W, 4–0, Grand Rapids

W, 4-2, Houston

L, 2-4, Hershey

2008–09 season

In the second round of the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs the Moose achieved their very first playoff sweep in franchise history, winning the series 4-0 against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

On May 25, 2009, the Moose advanced to the Calder Cup Championship series for the first time, beating the Houston Aeros 3-1 for a 4 games to 2 Western Conference final series victory.

Game 1 of the 2009 Calder Cup Championship series in Winnipeg was sold out with 15,003 fans (largest crowd in Game 1 of the AHL Final history) cheering on the Moose, the Moose ultimately lost the game in overtime to Hershey.

Game 2 of the 2009 Calder Cup Championship series included a Jason Jaffrayhat trick. The first on a power play at 7:59 in the second period tying the game at one. The second came with 47 seconds left in the third, being the game winner. His third goal was an empty net power play goal at 19:50. The final attendance was 14,737, a successful first two games for the Moose headed off to Hershey, with almost 30,000 people in attendance.

Games 3 and 4 had two wins for the Bears and only one goal scored by the Moose in the two games by Raymond Sawada. Game 3 was 3-0 and 4 was 2-1. The series was now at 3-1 for the Hereshy Bears

Going into Game 5 the Giant Center was sold out for the third time with 10,860 tickets sold besides the capacity of 10,500. It was the largest crowd in Giant Center history ready to see the Calder Cup. The Moose had something to say about that. At 17:00 in the second period, Michael Grabner put one past goaltender Michal Neuvirth. 67 later Cody Hodgson put another one past him. After a goal from Hershey's Graham Mink, an empty net goal by Jason Krog and another Hershey goal with 30 seconds left, the Moose made the series 3-2 going back to the MTS Centre for games 6 & 7. Cory Schneider received first star in game 5 with 31 saves and the Giant Center held 31,860 fans for all three games.

See also

List of ice hockey teams in Manitoba

Notes

Players with * have not played in any games to date but are on the team Roster